black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

Possibilities play a much bigger role in thinking than most people believe. Without possibilities you cannot make progress.

Edward de Bono

What is urgent will always take precedence over what is important.
EDWARD DE BONO

Important Urgent
You hold onto religion, you know, rules, regulations, traditions. I think what God is interested in is people’s hearts, and that’s hard enough.
EDWARD DE BONO

Enough Hard Heart Hold People Religion Rule Tradition
Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.
EDWARD DE BONO

Creativity Different Establishment Order Pattern Way
Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic.
EDWARD DE BONO

Logic Mistake Thinking
The effective thinker treats arrogance as the major sin of thinking.
EDWARD DE BONO

Arrogant Effect Sin Thinking Treat
The purpose of art is to reflect new emerging values and to define the new heroes and heroines so that people can absorb them into their perceptions.
EDWARD DE BONO

Absorb Art Perception Purpose Reflection Value
The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas.
EDWARD DE BONO

Ideas Need Right Time
The solid wealth of insurance companies and the success of those who organsie gambling are some indication of the profits to be derived from the efficient use of chance.
EDWARD DE BONO

Chance Company Insurance Solid Wealth
Western traditions of education have emphasized knowledge analysis, description and debate. They all have a part to play, but today there is a whole vast aspect of doing that has just been left out. Operacy is what keeps society going.
EDWARD DE BONO

Analysis Debate Description Education Society Tradition
The concept of logical thinking is selection and this is brought about by the processes of acceptance and rejection. Rejection is the basis of logical thinking.
EDWARD DE BONO

Acceptance Concept Logic Rejection Selection Thinking
The power of a car is separate from the way the car is driven.
EDWARD DE BONO

Car Drive Power Separate
Lateral thinking is the process of using information to bring about creativity and insight restructuring. Lateral thinking can be learned, practised and used. It is possible to acquire skill in it just as it is possible to acquire skill in mathematics.
EDWARD DE BONO

Creativity Information Mathematics Process Thinking
You can analyse the past, but you have to design the future.
EDWARD DE BONO

Analysis Design Future Past Yourself
People should realize we’re jerks just like them.
EDWARD DE BONO

People Realize
The vertical thinker says: ‘I know what I am looking for.’ The lateral thinker says: ‘I am looking but I won’t know what I am looking for until I have found it.’
EDWARD DE BONO

Finding Philosophy Thinking
Man owes his success to his creativity. No one doubts the need for it. It is most useful in good times and essential in bad.
EDWARD DE BONO

Bad Creativity Doubt Essential Man Need Success
My thinking was taught to tribes in South Africa like the Zulus and Xhosas. At the time there were about 210 fights breaking out among them every month, but after they listened to my lessons, this fell to just four.
EDWARD DE BONO

Fight Lesson Listening Teaching Thinking Time
It’s not enough to rage against the lie.. you’ve got to replace it with the truth.
EDWARD DE BONO

Enough Lying Replacement Truth
To me, a faith in Jesus Christ that is not aligned with the poor it’s nothing.
EDWARD DE BONO

Faith God Poor
I know it aches, how your heart it breaks. You can only take so much. Walk on.
EDWARD DE BONO

Heart Hurt Known Myself Pain Walk
To develop thinking as a skill, it should be deliberate, focused, confident, and enjoyable.
EDWARD DE BONO

Confidence Development Enjoyment Skills
I’m tired of dreaming. I’m into doing at the moment. It’s, like, let’s only have goals that we can go after.
EDWARD DE BONO

Dreams Goal Moments
If you wait for opportunities to occur, you will be one of the crowd.
EDWARD DE BONO

Crowd Opportunity Wait Willing
Complexity means distracted effort. Simplicity means focused effort.
EDWARD DE BONO

Complex Distraction Effort Simplicity
The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone else and produces the best results.
EDWARD DE BONO

Best Chef Ingredient Result Win
On trade, our hypocrisy is at its most appalling. Trade reform isn’t about charity, it’s about justice, and this campaign, Trade Justice is an unstoppable idea.
EDWARD DE BONO

Charity Hypocrisy Idea Justice Stop Trade
The analysis of data will not by itself produce new ideas.
EDWARD DE BONO

Analysis Data Ideas Production

Possibilities play a much bigger role in thinking than most people believe. Without possibilities you cannot make progress.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

Possibilities play a much bigger role in thinking than most people believe. Without possibilities you cannot make progress.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Edward de Bono Quotes